I knew the name was familiar; it took only a moment or two to find out why.
On the Common Council agenda for tonight, the mayor has nominated one Diane Baranowski for a seat on the much-hobbled Environmental Commission.
A nomination, it appears, executed in the long tradition of destroying from within those institutions deemed unnecessary or averse to Those Who Matter (in this case, read: developers).
The so-called "ironic appointment."
Ronald Reagan's handlers worried that if it named competent people to run "objectionable" agencies, its actions might be interpreted by Those Who Matter as sanctioning the regulatory enterprise. That's how the neophyte Colorado state legislator Anne Gorsuch was put in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency. And she gutted it from within.
George W. Bush nominates UN denouncer John Bolton in 2005 as our ambassador to the UN.
Bush's Department of Labor is run by self-admitted haters of labor. They go so far as to agree to give Wal-Mart a fifteen-day notice before "investigating" it for any possible child labor violations.
And here in Franklin, the Common Council is being asked to approve the appointment of a woman who wrote the note below - cc'ed to the mayor - to blogger Greg Kowalski (who has an entry about the situation as well) while he was attempting to get even cosmetic improvements made to the Target Store in the Parking Lots Shoppes at Wyndham Village.
Ms. Baranowski has every right to her opinion, and I'm sure she is well-intentioned. However, do the sentiments below sound like those of a person who is anxious to help Franklin remain vigilant regarding environmental impacts? Does this sound like the attitude of a person who is busy reading whatever she can on "green" issues, both pro and con? Think she'll be anxious to head up a subcommittee to look into alternate parking configurations or green roofs (to quote Ms. Baranowski: "UNDERGROUND PARKING - Are you NUTS? A "GREEN" ROOF - same!")?
No. It sounds like someone who is on Mark Carstensen's and Target Corporate's Christmas card list. And the appointment smells to high heaven like a concession to one or both of those entities.
I serve on the relatively low-impact Economic Development Commission, having been nominated for the position by Mayor Taylor; Plan Commission was off-limits to me, evidently. Both myself and all the citizen commissions are belittled by a manuever this cynical.
Will someone read the letter below into the record before the council votes?
To: [email protected]
I'm going to the Target corporate website right now and hope that they have a "contact us" option that I can use. I've got a lot to say to them.
I thought of the exact same things RE: the Bush admin appointments when I first heard about this. I admire Ms. Baranowski for wanting to take part in government, and she should have that ability. Further I always welcome dissenting and diverse viewpoints into a process. But I draw the line at nominating someone who seemingly stands quite firmly against the very core mission of the commission in question.
I don't know Ms. Baranowski, but judging soley by that letter, perhaps the Economic Development Commission would be more appropriate.
Posted by: Jeff | December 16, 2008 at 05:48 PM
It will be interesting to see who gets the nod for the open Plan Commission seat. Carstensen perhaps?
Posted by: Al Foeckler | December 16, 2008 at 06:49 PM
This appointment is simply public sabotage of a commission whose very existence runs contrary to the Mayor's interests. I don't dig into local politics as much as I should but antics such as these just make me sick.
Why not just be a man and eliminate the commission altogether instead of playing greaseball politics and undermining it from within?
Posted by: J. Strupp | December 16, 2008 at 11:26 PM